Impact of Childhood Out-of-Home Placement on a Southwestern American Indian Tribe

SUMMARY

One of the defining characteristics of American Indian and Alaska Native communities is the removal of hundreds of thousands of children from their natural parents, extended families, and often, reservation environments. Though widely discussed, little is known about the sequelae of out-of-home placement among American Indians. In this paper we investigate the occurrence of out-of-home placement among 580 Southwestern American Indian tribal members. Out-of-home placement is examined here within a broad context of trauma, alcohol abuse and dependence, and other psychiatric disorders.